Death's Shadow: Season 2 of Virtual Legend 仮想伝
by Sepha Fanfics
Summary: I recommend a reading of Season 1 on FictionPress. Nearly seven months after OL was cleared, Keaton was asked to investigate Phantom Blade Online, where mysterious deaths were occurring. Follow him as he teams up with solo player Kiyoe to track down the source and destroy it. Contains language, violence, and suggestive situations.
1. Chapter 1

He woke up, startled. He remembered dreaming, but the dream had been forgotten. He looked around his room. The date was March 6, 2026. He yawned loudly.

This was eighteen year old Jack Miyazaki. He was a fine-looking guy with tousled jet black hair and deep gray eyes. Nearly seven months had passed since he had cleared the infamous "Online Legends," a virtual reality game that trapped players within it, and game over was a real life death.

The final boss turned out to be an AI program labeling himself Virus, who had taken up residence in Jack's OL avatar. In the final fight, Jack had killed himself to kill Virus; they were still linked even after Virus seperated himself from Jack. But Jack survived, and that meant Virus was still out there, though their tie was severed since OL was completely erased.

Since then, Jack began working for a company known as

"Uirusutorakka," people who solved mysteries involving the growing Virtual Reality game genre. He hadn't gotten any updates for a couple weeks now, so he was relaxing for the day.

He was impressed by the fact that the Virtual Reality franchise continued to flourish, despite the OL incident. More and more seemed to pop out and they weren't really uncommon anymore.

Jack shuffled out of his room, still groggy from sleeping. He lived alone in a comfy apartment. It was complete with a kitchen, a TV room, and a full bedroom with a bathroom.

His bedroom was probably the smallest room, around 10 meters long and 5 meters wide, with a black and blue bed and birch wood side desk in the middle with a computer.

He made himself a sandwich in the kitchen, a 20x10 meter place with white concrete walls, marble tops, and multiple oak wood cabinets for storage. Jack ate the sandwich slowly, savoring both flavor and his time.

He then got a text from someone. Jack pulled out his phone. It was from Uirusutorakka. They wanted him to meet with their CEO, Jason Takahata. It was urgent, and they needed him at the mall right now.

Jack sighed. "I thought today would be like before…"

He dressed himself in a white shirt with black sleeves and faded blue jeans. He threw on a black jacket (He had begun to favor black lately) and headed outside in dirty gray sneakers.

The mall was a couple blocks away. The text said that Jason would be at the front, so Jack began to jog, stuffing his hands into his pocket. He arrived at the mall in around five more minutes.

This was a twenty-story mall with a white-themed exterior and was lined with windows all around, making it look like a huge dome. Jack could see people looking out of the windows and climbing the escalator.

He entered through the golden lined glass doors, admiring the giant interior of the mall.

It was even grander than the outside, with perfectly aligned white tile, columns with a wind-like design, and clean-cut concrete walls. In the center was a huge fountain that spewed crystal clear water from an elegant spout in the center. It was mid-crowded, but Jack could easily recognize who Jason was.

Jason Takahata was a tall and well built man, wearing a gray suit and blue tie, and had thin black-framed glasses, violet eyes, and sleeked back brown hair. He gave Jack a plastic smile when he saw the teen. Jack clenched his fists. He never really enjoyed working for him; he only did it to track down Virus.

"Glad you could come, Jack-kun," he said in a deep and monotone voice, bowing.

"Nice to see you, Jason-san," Jack replied, nodding curtly.

"Why don't we go eat? My treat," he said, holding out his hand towards a restaurant.

Jack agreed, and the two walked side by side. Jason walked oddly straight, with no real facial expressions. Jack glowered at him when he wasn't looking. There was something about Jason that really ticked him off.

They soon were a a white Paris-style table and conversing.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Jack asked, slurping some ramen.

"I came to talk to you about this," Jason replied, reaching into his suit.

He pulled out something Jack didn't expect. It was a game case for the Virtual Reality console. The case was completely white, and black powder was on the design, making a sword and a gun, an odd combination to Jack.

"What's this?" Jack asked.

"This is a new game for the VRC, known as Phantom Blade Online, PBO for short. It's a VRMMOFPS," Jason explained, handing the case to Jack.

Jack took it, examining it closely. "Phantom Blade Online?"

"It's quite popular amongst online gamers worldwide, mostly because of the fact that it's one of the first FPS games for the VRC."

"You wanted me to meet you for a game?" Jack asked skeptically, happy that he had a free video game, but suspicious of Jason's motives.

"PBO has a dark side, and I want you to exploit it. Have you watched the recent death reports?" Jason asked, crossing his right leg over his left in his chair.

"I don't watch the news," Jack admitted, distracted by the game cover.

"Well then, I'll explain. In PBO, there was a teenage player who went by the name of 'Kyon' in the game. He was regarded as the game's strongest player. But, one day, he was playing PBO, and he didn't come out of his room for days. His mother checked on him, and she found him dead," Jason said.

Jack's eyes widened. "Dead…?"

"You're aware of the Virtual Stream?"

"Yeah. The TV network that broadcasts special events in Virtual Reality MMOs, right?"

"Precisely. The last event streamed was an interview with Kyon. But he was killed in the game at 20:38:57, and evidence suggests he died at 20:39:01," Jason explained.

"No way… Four seconds after dying in-game…" Jack whispered, staring at the game cover.

"I want you to find out if my hypothesis is correct. See, there really is no time for me to do it myself. You were regarded as a god in, dare I say, Online Legends, were you not?"

"I suppose…" Jack said, smirking at the word "god."

Jason reache into his suit once more, and pulled out what looke like a fat teal flash drive. "This is a finished version of our Conversion Drive. This will let you transfer your OL data to your PBO avatar. Do you understand what I want you to do? Find the cause of these deaths, and report back here in one week on what you've found."

"What's in it for me?" Jack asked, peering at the CEO.

"Four hundred thousand yen," Jason said calmly, holding out the Conversion Drive.

Jack took it along with the PBO game. "You have a deal."

Jason smiled that annoyingly plastic smile. "Good."

Jack stood, his ramen barely touched. He bowed painfully, and walked out of the mall. He walked back home, and went briskly to his room. He glanced at his desk. On it sat the Nerve Gear. He hesitated, but grabbed it anyway. He burst into sweat, remembering the traumatizing events of OL. He steeled himself, and went to work.

He opened his VRC, and ripped out Online Legends. He chucked it out his window as far as he could. It landed in the nearby lake, sinking to the bottom. He smiled with satisfaction. He then took out the PBO cartridge, and put it into the VRC. He also plugged in the Conversion Drive.

He lay down on his bed, and slowly put the Nerve Gear on his head. He breathed slowly, steadying himself as it began to get stuffy in the NG. The time was 16:48. He inhaled deeply.

"Link start!" he said, and his room faded away into white.

Words appeared. "Convert Keaton into Phantom Blade Online?"

Jack accepted, and the white faded away. It was replaced with a rather depressing landscape, with few signs of plant life across the plains, and old buildings that looked like they came from the dumpster. The sky was a cloudy twilight, giving off an unsettling aura.

Jack, now Keaton, froze. He didn't know anything about this game. He opened the menu in front of him, and checked his stats. He had been converted into an RPG level, and a very high one too: level one hundred and five. His jaw dropped.

"So OP…" he mumbled, laughing airily.

He then remembered something. What did his avatar look like? His voice had gotten a bit higher, but that didn't appear as a problem. Only the data of his OL avatar was transferred, not the appearance. He noticed remnants of a thick window from a building that was completely toppled over. He dashed towards it, and saw his appearance.

"What… the… HELL?!" he exclaimed, or rather, she exclaimed.

Keaton's avatar was a female. A very convincing and beautiful one too. Pale but not ghostly white skin, flowing and perfect long black hair, shining gray eyes, wearing a thin black military-like half zipped up jacket, a dirty white T-shirt, dark black jeans, and an anime type of scar on her left cheek. The avatar looked like a stereotypical chick with really cool abilities that blew the men out of the water, minus the overexposing outfit.

"I ain't even mad…" she mumbled, smiling guiltily and touching her face lightly.

She checked her equipment. She didn't have any armor on, but her Defense was still at a killer 16,000. Her stats were as follows:

Max HP: 20,000

Attack: 19,000

Defense: 16,000

STR (Lifting, Attack, Defense, Critical Damage): 9,000

VIT (Stamina, Evasion, Speed, Sight): 8,500

CON (Max HP, Attack, Defense, Listening): 10,000

DEX (Accuracy, Critical Hit Rate, Evasion, Hand-related Activities): 8,000

Keaton admired her appearance, getting over the shock.

"Even I'd want to date me…" she whispered, gazing at her reflection.

Keaton then shook her head. She didn't come here to play a game. She looked at the Basic Info.

Phantom Blade Online is a massive world, set after a fierce war with aliens. This is a game that emphsizes use with guns and, of course, blades. Player killing is on whenever you aren't within a Safe Zone. The biggest attraction is the Champion's Blade tournament, which is broadcasted on Virtual Stream. The next one begins at 20:00 on March 7, 2026. Good luck, and enjoy Phantom Blade Online!

Keaton closed the menu. "Champion's Blade, huh…?"

After reviewing the basics on gameplay, Keaton realized they were just like OL's, minus the guns, of course. She yawned, wondering where to start.

Then she froze. She opened to her seemingly empty inventory, scrolling down desperately.

"C'mon, please be here, please be here…!" she whispered, beginning to sweat.

At the very bottom was an item, labeled VEAI009. Keaton sighed in relief. She almost tapped it, but then remembered this was a game with guns. She didn't open it, but put it into her Nerve Gear's storage memory. She shuddered at what could've happened.

"Now let's see… Where to start…" Keaton muttered, looking around.

She began walking towards the wreckage, hoping that a town was there. The odd twilight sky had black clouds, making Keaton cringe.

"So this is the supposed future…" she said, gulping.

She soon reached a town, labeled Fenaza Village. It was a rural type of village, with small wood houses barely holding themselves together, a faded and cracked stone pathway, and a small fountain spewing did colored water. Keaton shivered in a bit of disgust.

She found the weapons and armor shop. It was a bit small, with a few male players and one female in it. The weapons were showcased on large stands. The men in the room stared at Keaton with gawking faces. The female paid no attention as she flipped through the nearby magazine stand. Keaton ignored the men in a convincing female way. She silently thanked her sister, Celine, for teaching her about how a girl thinks. She examined the weapons.

Along with stats, half of her OL money (Okane) had been transferred to PBO, resulting in 60,000 Pecuniam, the currency of the game. She noticed one of the swords in an obsidian color. It was called Black Eclipse. Keaton grinned, and bought it for 20,000 Pecuniam.

She then decided to look at the guns. She had absolutely no knowledge on them, and stared at them blankly.

"I'd suggest the VIT pistols, darling. For someone of your… size," a man whispered into Keaton's ear, coming out of nowhere.

She whirled around and came face to face with a man. He had a very big build, with a "hot man" face, brown eyes, and black hair. He grinned at Keaton hungrily, his face five centimeters from hers.

"Hey there. You're new, right?" he said, sending a chill down Keaton's spine.

It was at this moment the female player glanced up, interested. The other male players had already exited, sensing trouble.

He can't be serious… Keaton thought.

"My name's Derek. I'm probably one of the strongest players in this game, darling. Not to brag, but I'm at level seventy six," he said, tracing a rough finger down Keaton's smooth cheek in a perverted way.

Keaton couldn't help but snicker. This caught Derek by surprise, as he backed up.

Keaton equipped her Black Eclipse. "I converted from another game, pal. Level one hundred and five."

The girl put away her magazine, and began equipping a weapon. Keaton noticed this, and quickly purchased a random gun. She equipped it, and it was Shadow's Bullet III, and it had very high accuracy.

"Well, this'll be… fun," Keaton said, pointing the gun at the girl, and Black Eclipse at Derek.

Derek gulped, but drew out a machine gun. "Nobody can't have reached level one hundred and five! It's impossible!"

Keaton yawned, and shot Derek before he could react. He died instantly without screaming, shattering into the familiar crystal shards. The girl lowered her weapon, stunned.

"You wanna fight?" Keaton asked, her attention completely focused on the girl.

"Suppose not…" she said with grudging respect.

Keaton lowered her gun and sword. They were the only ones in the shop, seperated only by a bookshelf of magazines. Keaton went on as if nothing happened, spending the rest of her Pecuniam on some Invisible Equipment (retain appearance with equipment on) and ammo for Shadow's Bullet III.

Keaton was about to leave when the girl called out, "Stop."

Keaton turned, and got a good look at her. Sleek shoulder length purple hair, a light complexion, pretty green eyes, and wearing a thick gray jacket loaded with grenades, a black shirt, and faded blue jeans.

"Are you registering for the Champion's Blade?" she asked wearily.

"Yeah, I am. Why?" Keaton replied.

"I want to fight you."

Keaton grinned. "See you on the battlefield, then."

She exited the shop, then sweatdropped. She had no clue how the Champion's Blade worked. She began panicking, consulting the manual.

Registration was located in the Main Menu. Keaton sighed at her idiocy. She opened the Main Menu, and selected "Registration." A registration card appeared, with a blank line labeled "Name." Keaton typed in her username, and then it dissolved, with a confirmation note.

"I'm in Section F, Number 2," Keaton said aloud.

Then she remembered. She was supposed to be investigating! She sweatdropped. Oops.

She then got a message. It was from an anonymous player. She opened it.

"Remember me, idiot?" it said.

Keaton froze at the icy chill that the words sent down her spine. Idiot. Why did that sound so familiar?

She shook off the uneasy feeling. The tournament was tomorrow, and a good place to start searching. She opened the menu, and found the log out button. She stared at it with shining eyes. She pressed it, and was back as normal teenage boy Jack Miyazaki, staring at the ceiling.

He shifted the Nerve Gear off his head. He then remembered VEAI009. He plugged in his Nerve Gear into his computer, and clicked on the Local Memory File. He opened VEAI009. A black screen appeared, with a girl in it.

She looked around eleven, with flowing black hair, a cute face, and wearing a plain white pajama dress. She looked at Jack with big gray eyes.

"Papa!" she exclaimed, grinning like Jack.

"Hey, Laura," Jack said. "It's nice to see you."

"Papa, why did you transfer to a different game?" Laura asked innocently.

"Your papa has a job to do, and it involves this Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer First Person Shooter style of game, known as Phantom Blade Online. I'm not sure you can handle the gunfire, so I didn't summon you in the game," Jack explained, sitting in a chair in front of the computer.

"Papa, you're talking to an AI program that has seen death on a daily basis before. I think I can handle a few guns," Laura said with pride.

Jack grimaced. He wanted to be the best "father" he could be to Laura. Back in OL, he had saved her before OL could delete her. He didn't want to risk her seeing the destruction of PBO, but he also didn't want to be a father who restrained his child from their potential.

"If I let you in, you'll become a player like anyone else. You won't have administrative access like in OL, and you may have to fight. Are you sure you want this?" Jack asked, biting his tongue gently.

"Yes. I'm sure, Papa! I can handle it!" Laura said, smiling.

"And one more thing: I want you to call me 'Mama' in the game," Jack said.

Laura tilted her head. "Why?"

"My avatar in PBO is… a girl."

Laura began giggling. "Papa… you're a girl?"

"Yep. Your papa's a girl!" Jack exclaimed jokingly, laughing heartily.

Laura settled down. "Okay Pa—Mama, I'm ready!"

Back in PBO, the girl from the weapons shop brought up the registration card for the second Champion's Blade tournament. Last time, six months ago, she had placed fifteenth. She was now very confident of her abilities. She knew that the girl from before was level one hundred and five. She ignited a desire to win within the girl's heart.

This was the famous Kiyoe of PBO. She was very well known for her way with guns and explosives. Nobody had seen her miss the entire time she was on Virtual Stream. Her weapons ranged from pistols to machine guns to even a rare bazooka. Kiyoe was quite possibly the strongest female player in all of the PBO servers, and quite proud of it.

She finally exited the weapons shop, and saw the girl from before. She was holding the hand of another girl, much younger and looking around eleven.

"So this is PBO…" the young girl said. "It's very… depressing."

The girl from before noticed Kiyoe, and drew her pistol, pointing it at Kiyoe. She didn't even blink.

"Save it for the tournament. I'm not gonna hurt you," Kiyoe said blandly.

The girl hesitated, but put the gun away.

"Mama, whose that?" the young girl asked, pointing at Kiyoe.

"In the game people call me Kiyoe. I've got a reputation for being one of the game's strongest players," Kiyoe said, slightly bragging.

"Well, I bet Mama will beat you!" the young girl said. "She will!"

"I'd like to see her try. Wait, 'Mama?!'" Kiyoe exclaimed. "You're a mother?!"

The girl laughed uneasily. "Not exactly… This is Laura. I'm Keaton. I just converted one of my avatars into PBO."

Keaton extended a friendly hand. Kiyoe shook it grudgingly.

"C'mon, Laura, let's go get you some weapons," Keaton said cheerily.

"Yay!" Laura said, as if it were completely normal.

Kiyoe was shocked. How could such a young girl not be afraid of a violent VRMMOFPS such as PBO? It was… unnatural. She decided to follow them inside. Keaton was showing Laura the swords, happily explaining them.

"This is the one I got!" Keaton said. "It gives a thirty percent Attack boost and some additional Defense!"

Laura gazed at it lovingly. "It's pretty…"

Kiyoe's jaw dropped. It was like Laura was used to this stuff. She walked over, trying to get a closer look.

"Remember, Keaton; she has to choose something within her STR stat range," she warned.

"Don't worry; Laura's actually around level… one hundred and two? Three?" Keaton said, not sure of which one.

"One hundred and four!" Laura said happily.

Kiyoe was speechless. This young girl was level one hundred and four?! Then again, she could've been an adult in real life…

"How old is Laura, exactly?" Kiyoe asked out of curiosity.

"Eleven. I turn nineteen this August," Keaton said nonchalantly.

"She's… eleven?" Kiyoe wasn't sure if she should believe Keaton or not.

"I'll take this one, Mama!" Laura said, pointing to a sword as tall as her called Midnight Slash, which gave a twenty five percent Attack increase and a thirty percent Speed increase. What surprised Kiyoe was that she was holding it with one hand.

Keaton bought Laura Midnight Slash.

"Why're you getting her a sword? This game has guns, so sword-users typically lose PK matches," Kiyoe said.

"So? We favor swords," Keaton said, showing her Black Eclipse.

Laura yawned. "Tomorrow is the Champion's Blade rounds… I wonder who's gonna be in it…"

Keaton smiled, and lifted Laura onto her shoulders as the young girl fell asleep.

"You act more like a father than a mother, Keaton," Kiyoe said.

Keaton smiled, and exited the shop.

"What do we do now?" Kiyoe asked.

"I thought you were a solo player," Keaton said. "You can go now."

"You sure? You don't need my help?" Kiyoe was making excuses for staying for some reason.

"No, not really. I'll see you at the tournament."

Keaton waved goodbye, and settled Laura down.

"Wait, can you take care of Laura? I'm logging out," she said, holding out the sleeping girl to her.

"Why can't she log out with you?" Kiyoe asked.

"She's… special," Keaton said, and logged out.

Laura woke up right there. "So, Kiyoe…"

Kiyoe made a little yelp. "You're up!"

"I just wanted Mama to go so I could do some fun things," Laura said, stretching.

"What do you want to do? Make it quick because I need to log out in a few minutes."

"I wanted to know what you think of Mama."

"Keaton. She's… interesting," Kiyoe replied.

"You were making up all sorts of excuses to stay with us. Why?"

"U-Um, I don't really know the answer to that…"

"Do you really like Mama?" Laura asked curiously.

"N-Not in that way! We're both girls, so—"

"Mama can be quite attractive when she wants to be," Laura said, smiling.

Kiyoe rolled her eyes as Keaton logged in, smiling brightly. "Hey there!"

She came up to Kiyoe. "You're still here?"

Kiyoe sighed. "Yeah. So?"

"You can go now," she replied, making a "shoo" gesture.

Kiyoe raised an eyebrow, but logged out anyway.

She was now staring at a dimly lit gray ceiling. She was no longer Kiyoe. She was just normal eighteen year old Lisa Kobayashi.

She took off the Nerve Gear, letting her brown hair tumble down her back. Her blue eyes scanned the small bedroom sleepily.

"I should eat…" she mumbled, getting out of bed.

She walked down a hallway, passing by a shelf. On it was photos of her and some guy. On the very top was ashes, labeled "Paul 'Darell' Himekawa." Darell had been a player of OL who died. He was Lisa's boyfriend. She never forgave herself for not being by his side when he logged in. Just another death to add to her stack.

Lisa was alone, with no family or friends. She just graduated high school, and was living off of money from PBO events, like the monthly Pecuniam conversion into real yen and of course, the real yen prize money from Champion's Blade.

When her beloved died playing OL, she was overcome with grief. She practically became anorexic, and lost nearly fifteen pounds the next couple of months. When PBO came out, it was perfect. Paul loved fantasy games, but Lisa preferred shooters. She began playing PBO to feel close to Paul. She rose up quickly to the top with sheer willpower. Now she was the fearless Gunmaster Kiyoe, who always knew what to do.

Jack woke up from PBO around 7:40. He yawned, and lazily rolled out of bed after taking off the Nerve Gear.

He got a text from Jason. He wanted the information so far. Jack sighed. He should've known the deadline wasn't real. He texted back that he had a hunch, and would confirm it at the Champion's Blade tournament starting in a little over 24 hours.

"Well, now I wait," Jack said, and walked out if his room, his Nerve Gear sitting on his bedside and looking like the face of death.


	2. Chapter 2

Keaton had logged in at 18:49 on the night of the Champion's Blade preliminaries. She yawned out of boredom while sitting in front of the Battle Dome. Laura spawned next to her.

"Hey, P—Mama," she said, resting her head on Keaton's left shoulder.

"Hey Laura," Keaton replied, uneasy for some reason.

"What's your investigation about?"

Keaton exhaled. "Well, I have to investigate real life deaths involving this game, and it might have to do with Virus."

"Virus? I thought he died!"

"I'm still here, aren't I? Our link is broken, but he's somewhere in this game; I can feel it."

Keaton hid Black Eclipse in her jacket, and Shadow's Bullet III in one of the jacket's front pockets.

"You're gonna solve this. I know you can do it, Mama," Laura said comfortingly.

Keaton made an acknowledging sound as the pair stared off into the twilight sky.

Keaton then saw Kiyoe log in there. It filled her with joy to see her there.

"Kiyoe!" Keaton called, waving.

Kiyoe noticed this, and waved back with a small wave. More players began logging in as 20:00 approached.

Keaton noticed Kiyoe talking with another guy, who looked around the same age as her.

He was an inch above Kiyoe's head, with tousled brown hair, kind blue eyes, and wearing a navy blue military jacket and black jeans.

Keaton snorted unintentionally, walking over to Kiyoe and the guy with Laura.

"Mama, is something wrong?" Laura asked, noticing this. "Your heart rate is going up…"

"No… It's nothing…" Keaton mumbled.

The guy noticed Keaton and Laura heading for them. He also saw Keaton's piercing glare.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Keaton shook her head. "I just… wanted to talk with Kiyoe, that's all…"

Kiyoe turned, and made a small smile at Keaton. "Hey."

Keaton nodded at her, then turned to the guy.

"Who's this?" she asked unnaturally coldly.

"This is Ryan. We've known each other since first grade in the real world," Kiyoe explained. "Ryan-kun, this is Keaton-kun."

"H-How do you d-do, Keaton-san? I'm Ryan, I'm nineteen and… single…" he whispered the last part, bowing uneasily due to Keaton's feminine appearance.

Keaton pointed her gun at Ryan. "Don't even think about it."

Ryan straightened. "Y-Yes, ma'am!"

"Tch…" Keaton mumbled.

"Mama, are you okay?" Laura asked, tugging on Keaton's hand. "You're very tense… This isn't healthy for you."

"M-Mama?!" Ryan explained. "You're a mom?! I'm so sorry!"

"I'm not a real mom. This is my AI daughter, Laura," Keaton said, sighing.

"Oh… Is she competing?"

"No. I don't want her to."

"Mama is a really good mama! She protects me to her last breath!" Laura said admiringly. "I wanna be like her someday!"

Keaton smiled kindly in a motherly way. Ryan checked his watch.

"Preliminaries are starting in around fifty seconds. If Laura wants to spectate, she can do so by choosing "Spectate" on the Main Menu," Ryan said.

Keaton hugged Laura tightly. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Mama!" Laura said, smiling.

With that, Keaton was transported to the Waiting Room with the other players. There were fifty six of them, including Keaton. She took out her registration card. She was number two.

The Waiting Room was located in a relatively high part of the Battle Dome, with gray chair and flooring and a perfect view of the Colosseum where the matches took place.

A digital screen appeared, labeled "Preliminary Matches." It matched numbers ranging from one to twenty six, and labeled each pair with a number between one and thirteen. Keaton was in match one with the person with the number six card.

The Battle Dome had been split into twenty eight seperate areas, though each was still at least 500km in diameter.

Icons appeared above each player, identifying them with their number. Keaton scanned the room, and found number six. It was Derek. He looked at Keaton, and licked his lips pervertedly.

Keaton glared daggers at him. Then she was transported to the Colusseum in a flash of blue light.

The map was a barren wasteland, much like the rest of the game. Keaton knew she was on Virtual Stream from the digital camera above.

She decided to make a good first impression by drawing Black Eclipse and Shadow's Bullet III, crossing her arms, and winking at the camera. She could practically see the men gawking over her.

"The matches begin now," a monotone virtual voice said, and was gone.

Keaton tensed. She knew Derek was somewhere, but the place was huge, so somewhere was anywhere. She opened the menu slowly, and scrolled through her skills cautiously. She then chose "HP Mega-gen," which recovered 25% of her Max HP automatically every five seconds.

She then focused her sight on the battlefield, pointing Shadow's Bullet III where her line of sight was. She then noticed a gun barrel belonging to a snipe rifle that was pointing straight at her from a small crack, nearly 500 m away.

She smiled, and dashed for it. Immediately, a shot was fired, and Keaton rolled forward, dodging it. Another shot fired, striking her neck.

She let out an embarrassing scream, HP drained down to an alarming half. Thankfully, the Regen kicked in.

She continued running forward, ready for the next shot at 154m away. The sniper rifle rotated out with a close range machine gun, and it began firing round after round with now mercy.

Keaton sliced at many of them calmly, others she was quickly blocking. She closed in on Derek, and sliced through the crack, knocking him back.

He fell, and took out a pistol. Keaton shot it away, and then sliced Derek in half.

At that moment, the match was cleared, and Keaton winked at the camera again in a girly way, smiling.

She was transported to the Spectator Room, where Laura was waiting patiently. There was another player draped in a dark scarlet cloak on the edge, watching Keaton warily.

The Spectator Room was like the Waiting Room with more space and chairs.

"Good job, Mama! You finished in about fifty seconds!" Laura said, hugging Keaton.

"Then I'll have to do better next time, won't I?" Keaton replied, laughing.

Laura then began whispering. "That player over there is unnaturally strong. He was done in twenty five seconds."

Keaton glanced over. The man was now walking over. Keaton tensed for some reason. Laura hid behind Keaton, shivering. Keaton managed to get a closer look.

This player was a head taller than her, his face covered with an iron mask, and wearing a complete set of knight-like armor. He glanced at Keaton with pale eyes.

"That style of fighting… Are you 'that player?'" he asked in a scraping, metallic voice.

"What do you mean?" Keaton asked slowly, trying to maintain a calm demeanor.

"Are you him? Your player ID is the same… Are you the same Keaton?" he hissed angrily.

Keaton clenched her fists. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The player peered at Laura. "She's an AI, correct? An AI that's not from this game?"

Laura gulped. Keaton put her arm in front of her daughter.

"You won't touch her," she said, glaring.

The player stopped seething, and left the room. Keaton slumped back into the nearest chair, breathing heavily.

"Mama!" Laura cried out, touching Keaton's face lightly.

Her heart rate has tripled in size. She must be really strong to have kept that under control… Laura thought admiringly.

"I'm… fine…" Keatonsaid between breaths.

"You're not! Your heart rate's so fast it's like you've been on two energy drinks!" Laura exclaimed.

Kiyoe appeared, and noticed Keaton's condition.

"Is she okay?" she asked a bit fearfully, jogging over.

"I'll be fine… Just overwhelmed…" she whispered.

Ryan appeared, and walked over. Keaton stood up, not panting anymore.

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"Ran into who I was looking for…" Keaton said.

"Um, congrats…?" Kiyoe said, shrugging slightly.

"No, not congrats! This is really bad…" Keaton hissed, hands on her head in distress.

"Keaton…" Kiyoe reached out to touch her shoulder.

Keaton tensed when it did so. Laura noticed this, but said nothing.

"C'mon, let's go. Our match's are all over," Ryan said, interrupting.

Keaton stood, and left for the door, Laura trailing behind. Before she exited, she turned.

"If you had the gun in front of someone's face… Would you have pulled the trigger?" she asked shakily, surprising Kiyoe and Ryan.

"Papa…" Laura said close to inaudibly, watching Keaton tremble with concern.

Keaton brushed away developing tears, and walked out with Laura.

"Papa, are you okay?" Laura asked.

"It's just… I remember in OL… I killed five players…" she whispered quietly, tears now falling from her face as she trembled uncontrollably. "They were trying to kill me… They wanted me dead…"

"Stop dwelling on the past, Papa…" Laura said.

Kiyoe walked out, about 15m from Keaton.

"Just look at her… She seems like a good Mama to me!" Laura said, throwing a hint at Keaton.

Keaton turned red.

"L-Laura…" she mumbled. "Don't do that to your pops…"

Laura giggled. Kiyoe approached them, Ryan trailing behind.

"What do you want to do now?" Kiyoe asked.

"Wait, you're partying up with her?! Her and not me?!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Yes. I am. Is there a problem?"

"Oh no, nothing at all. You're partying up with a complete stranger and not your childhood friend," he said sarcastically.

"Are you two… in a relationship?" Keaton asked cautiously.

"N-No!" Ryan shouted, face scarlet.

Kiyoe rolled her eyes, and Keaton could see the sadness in them. Kiyoe noticed this, her green eyes connecting with Keaton's near-black.

"I'm sorry…" she said. "What was his name?"

"… Paul. He called himself Darell in the Online Legends game," Kiyoe said.

Keaton fell to her knees. "Darell…? I never knew… he had a girlfriend… I would've saved him…"

"Mama… It isn't your fault…" Laura said comfortingly.

"But it is! I just let him die right in front of my eyes when I could've saved him! I should've struck! I could've prevented that! It is my fault!" Keaton shouted.

In OL, Keaton had become friends with Darell. They cleared the majority of the game alongside one another. Then, during the final fight, Darell was killed by Virus. Keaton still blamed himself for that.

Kiyoe knelt in front of Keaton, tears falling from both of their faces. "It's… okay…"

Kiyoe embraced Keaton. Ryan looked away, a bit embarrassed.

"Papa can be a bit emotional…" Laura said, then she gasped.

Both Keaton and Kiyoe froze.

"You're a guy?" she whispered.

"S-Sort of…" Keaton whispered back.

Kiyoe pushed him away, sending Keaton flying at least 100m.

"Liar!" she shouted. "I can't believe you!"

Keaton sat up, rubbing her, might as well call it his, head. "Ow… What the hell?!"

"The game identifies your gender through your brain waves… Must've screwed up on yours… I'd give anything to be a guy in this game!" Kiyoe shouted, seething in anger.

"K-Kiyoe-san, aren't you taking this a bit heavily? He didn't see you naked or anything…" Ryan said weakly.

"He has a point!" Keaton shouted, standing himself up.

He walked back over, only to be met with a death glare from Kiyoe.

"You better make it to the finals… I'll blow that feminine head off your body," she hissed, and logged out.

Keaton gulped. He then looked at Laura, who was still in a state of shock.

"I'm so sorry, Papa…" she whispered.

"It's okay… Kinda deserved that one…" Keaton said, scratching his head.

"I'll go talk to her tomorrow…" Ryan said. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I thought this body would give me a slight edge in the game."

Ryan smiled. "It certainly does."

Both players then logged out, waiting for next week to begin the tournament once more.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack had decided to meet Jason about three hours before the tournament. The CEO wanted a personal information report on what was found. They sat in a gray table just outside the mall.

"What did you find?" Jason asked, wearing the same attire from the last time Jack saw him.

"It's coming from an AI called Virus. He's probably hacked into the system to make it so he can kill someone in the game as well as reality," Jack said.

"You know this how?"

"I've had my past experiences with Virus. He wants people dead, and since OL is gone, he's targeting the next big thing."

Jason stood. "Is that all?"

Jack stood, and turned to leave. "That's all."

"Same time next week, got it?" Jason called.

Jack made it home, and logged into PBO. Laura and Kiyoe were already waiting for him.

"Hey," he said in a friendly tone.

"Tch," Kiyoe muttered.

"Kiyoe!" Laura whined with pleading eyes. "Please?"

Kiyoe looked at Keaton, and nodded coldly. Keaton made a small smile.

"Nice to see you too," he said.

Kiyoe took off with a huff.

"Women…" Keaton said, rolling his eyes.

Laura went to Kiyoe as well, and Keaton noticed his daughter grab Kiyoe's hand. This led to him thinking of "Papa" and "Mama." Would Kiyoe really be interested in…? No, he mustn't think like that. She was obviously too mad at him to even consider being a "Mama" to Laura.

But Kiyoe didn't turn her hand from Laura's. She smiled at the little girl with the kind of smile all mothers shared. Keaton turned a bit pink, tugging on the collar of his jacket.

Laura beckoned Keaton over. Keaton slowly stepped over there, preparing for the worst.

"I guess I overreacted a little bit…" Kiyoe mumbled. "Sorry…"

Keaton smiled at her. "It's okay."

He placed a hand on her head. She didn't protest. Laura grasped both their hands.

"C'mon, let's go, Papa!" she said brightly.

The tournament began, and Keaton and Kiyoe were transported to the Waiting Room.

"Good luck," Keaton said, smiling.

He also saw Virus there, who was staring at Keaton. The first event of the tournament would be a free for all with now special rules. Keaton spotted a person, and it was someone who looked strangely familiar.

He had tousled blond hair, pale green eyes, and a kind smile. Keaton went up to him.

"Hey," he said aloofly.

The boy turned. "You're in the tournament?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Keaton asked, temporarily forgetting about his appearance.

The boy shook his head, a bit pink. "I-I'm Kazuya."

Keaton froze. "Kazuya? It's been a while!"

Kazuya was confused. "Do I know you?"

Keaton then remembered he looked like a girl. "It's me… Keaton."

Kazuya's jaw dropped, then he smacked Keaton on the head. "You lucky bastard! Do you know how rare it is to get an avatar like this?!"

Keaton rubbed his head. "It's rare…?"

"Uh, yeah! You didn't know that gender is identified through brain waves?!"

Keaton gulped, shaking his head. Kazuya grinned.

"So what brings you here?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Keaton said. "And you blushed around my avatar. Did something happen between you and Forsythia?"

Kazuya sweatdropped. "Um, well… I moved to Tokyo a couple months after my rehab. We had to end our relationship."

Keaton nodded. "I should tell her about PBO."

"No, I'm not playing this for fun. I was hired by Argon Industries to invesitgate the deaths before some company called Uirusutorakka finds out," Kazuya explained.

"I work for Uirisutorakka," Keaton said.

Kazuya went blank for a moment. The matche began, but before they departed, Kazuya wished his friend good luck.

Keaton spawned in an incredibly large forest. Trees surrounded him everywhere, and Keaton suspected attack from ever direction.

He readied Black Eclipse and loaded Shadow's Bullet III. He leaped onto the branch of one of the trees, and leaped to the top.

Immediately, he spotted a male player doing the same thing. The player began shooting with a sniper. Keaton leaped, and sliced the bullets. He dashed for the player at a blinding speed, throwing him off for a split second before Keaton killed him with Black Eclipse.

He left behind a purple flame; players couldn't log out, but their consciousness remained.

"Twenty players remain," an announcement said. "Two more must be eliminated before the match ends."

Keaton checked the Player List. There was him, Kiyoe, Ryan, Kazuya, Virus, and fifteen others. One player got cut, leaving fourteen.

Keaton leaped off the tree, and fell on top of someone. He immediately stood, and prepared to strike. He stopped, and it was Kiyoe. He saw that he had pinned her to the side of a tree, their faces centimeters apart and Black Eclipse eased against her neck.

Kiyoe turned a slight pink color. "H-Hi…"

Keaton released the blade from her neck. "Hey."

Kiyoe massaged he neck. "I see you're still alive."

Keaton smiled. "Yeah."

A bell began gonging from nowhere.

"We can check player locations now," Kiyoe explained, opening up a map.

Keaton saw Virus on the map, 20m east of their location. He rushed towards it. He saw another player there as well. The two were fighting.

The player was trying to shoot him at a distance, but Virus was blocking them with metal hands. He swung at the player, and he died. Instead of leaving a flame, he shattered like a standard death.

Keaton's eyes widened, horrified. "No…"

Kiyoe his next to him. "What?"

"That player he killed… He died in the real world…" Keaton whispered, a tear falling from his eye. "It really is Virus…"

"Virus? Who's that?" Kiyoe whispered. "Whaddya mean that player died?"

"Virus killed Paul… He's the source of thousands of deaths!" Keaton was now yelling, and he rushed for Virus.

Virus turned, surprised. Keaton sliced at him, cracking through armor and draining his HP. Virus was shocked as Keaton delivered blow after blow. He soon shot with Shadow's Bullet III, knocking Virus back and shattering his mask.

It exposed pale blond hair, ghostly white blue eyes, and chalk white skin. What caught Keaton off guard was his face.

"Jason…" he said hoarsely.

Virus laughed. "Indeed. It's Jason's PBO avatar alright! You've been working for the bad guys!"

Keaton growled, and Virus ran off, faster than Keaton could. Keaton fell to his knees. Kiyoe walked up to him, recovering from shock.

"Are you… okay?" she whispered in a soft tone, comforting Keaton cautiously.

Keaton began sobbing. Kiyoe wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head to hers in a comforting way.

"I'm sorry about Paul… I couldn't save him in time…" Keaton said between sobs.

"Shhh… There's no need to apologize…" Kiyoe said comfortingly.

She felt very odd inside: a warm and fuzzy feeling accompanied by a blood rush to her cheeks. What was this? She ignored it, focusing on Keaton.

"The match is now over. Players will be transported to the Spectating Room," the announcer said.

They were still holding each other when they got to the Spectating Room.

"Papa?" Laura asked, feeling awkward seeing the pair like this.

Kiyoe shoved Keaton away, deeply embarrassed. Laura giggled.

"Kiyoe, your heart rate's really high… Are you falling for Papa?" she asked innocently.

"No, no! I-It's not like th-that! I-I was just c-comforting him!" she stuttered.

Keaton chuckled, having recovered. "What can I say? I'm irresistible."

Kiyoe smacked him. "Shut up!"

Ryan and Kazuya came up, seeing the entire thing.

"Nice girlfriend you've got there, Keaton. She's a keeper," he said, grinning mischeiviously.

Keaton and Kiyoe glared at him, making him recoil in a cowardly manner. Kiyoe huffed, and logged out.

Hilda shifted the Nerve Gear off her head, staring at the ceiling. It was 21:01, barely an hour since she logged in. She remembered hugging Keaton. She turned scarlet.

"I'm so stupid!" she yelled at nothing, scrambling out of bed.

Meanwhile, back in PBO, Ryan offered to meet Keaton in the real world.

"We can meet at that colossal white mall, what was it… Mōru Mall?" he said.

"I live near there! I can come tomorrow at around 13:45, is that good?" Keaton asked.

"Sure. I'll tell Kiyoe."

And with that, the two logged out.


End file.
